Early Bullet Train reviews are decidedly mixed on Brad Pitt's new action movie. The film is based on a Japanese mystery novel, Maria Beetle written by Kotaro Isaka. Bullet Train is directed by David Leitch, of John Wick and Deadpool 2, written by Zak Olkewicz, and produced by Antoine Fuqua. The film's cast consists of several notable actors including Pitt, Logan Lerman, Joey King, and Sandra Bullock.

The story of Bullet Train follows Ladybug, played by Pitt, an out of work American criminal-for-hire pulled back in for one last job. While aboard a high speed bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka, highly trained individuals emerge ready to disrupt Ladybug's mission. He must fight off the five competing assassins to acquire a mysterious briefcase. Action ensues as it becomes a fight to the death amongst the many trained killers on board the train. Over the course of the train ride, the passengers discover that each of their missions are entangled with one another. Bullet Train looked to be an entertaining action flick for the summer, but the first round of reviews paint a mixed picture.

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Reviews for Bullet Train are officially in and reception from critics has been mostly lukewarm. The common consensus among critics is that for what the film lacks in depth and character development, it more than makes up for with its snappy dialogue and non-stop action. Bullet Train's tightly filmed action sequences within the passenger train, combined with skillful editing and well choreographed fights, are praised and lauded for being some of the best in the genre. While many note the star studded cast gives solid performances throughout, the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired. Several characters come of as a cartoonish in their motivations and others are eliminated just as soon as they are revealed. The film falters when it attempts to come to a coherent message by its conclusion, offering minimal emotional resolution. Check out what critics have to say below:

Brian Tyree Henry as Lemon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tangerine in Bullet Train
Brian Tyree Henry as Lemon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tangerine in Bullet Train

Ben Kendrick, Screen Rant

"In many respects, the experience is style-over-substance at every turn but, to its credit, Bullet Train is so stylish, that it's easy to ignore that any words coming out of Leitch's characters are designed to sound cool, even when feigning substantive, rather than bothering to reveal something truly penetrating...Ladybug repeatedly ruminates on his efforts at self-betterment, toward the end of the film he's still operating out of a relatively inane understanding of fate (and luck); yet, that doesn't really matter to Leitch because the character has endured a non-stop barrage of over-the-top fights, inter-assassin banter, and hilarious misfortunes."

Pete Hammond, Deadline

"I am not at all sure what it looked like on the page, but on the screen it is little more than a live-action cartoon, or should I say anime. Leitch stages one badass action scene after another and Pitt navigates it all with a measure of wit and snappy one liners at every turn. I can’t say the thing ever goes off the rails because it never was on the rails to begin with. It all seems like an attempt to draw an undemanding international audience with a well-chosen and game cast that has something for everyone who wants to submit to mindless adventure."

Scott Garfield, Variety

"The fight scenes feel relatively original, which is impressive unto itself, considering how many other creative filmmakers there are trying to distinguish themselves in the genre. Leitch tends to approach these standoffs the way Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire once did their dance numbers: The violence needn’t be taken literally (which is tough at times, considering how brutal the bloodshed can be), but rather appreciated mostly for their choreography and capacity to surprise."

Ross Bonaime, Collider

"At its best though, Bullet Train is a game cast having a ball with this lunacy, in a film that is always barely skating by on the right side of stupid. Bullet Train is trying to make this story a more involved narrative about fate and luck that feels the need to tie everyone together with a bow, but really, it’s at its best when it's just a bunch of celebrities attempting to kill each other and having fun little conversations in between."

Ladybug looking confused in Bullet Train.

David Ehrlich, IndieWire

"A handful of playfully choreographed brawls help elevate “Bullet Train” above the usual... but it never feels as if Leitch is using the cramped space of the Shinkansen to the full extent that a “John Wick” movie would. Confined to an endless corridor of empty train cars that are all lit to resemble trendy hotel bars, Leitch’s film is stuck in place at 200mph, even in spite of a non-linear timeline that hopscotches between its many subplots and constantly forces its characters to re-evaluate their fates."

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap

"A fast-paced violent caper about a group of attractive crooks trying out to outwit and/or out-shoot each other holds the promise of being fun and thrilling, but in the hands of director David Leitch, it’s an airless affair. It’s clear in the first 20 minutes that this movie operates in such a vacuum of smug artificiality that nothing that transpires could possibly matter. And rather than lean into next-level snarkiness, 'Bullet Train' builds to a place where, as the bodies start piling up, we’re suddenly supposed to care about at least some of these characters and their relationships to each other."

Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

"Leitch embarks on a series of adrenalized set pieces that defy logic and physics so breezily that it's relentless, ridiculous violence plays almost like a winsome ballet. At 126 minutes, Bullet Train is maybe 20 minutes too long; the movie seems to be having too much fun to reach its final station on time, and too many winky drop-ins from A-list action heroes to wedge in. Bullet Train doesn't have a destination, really, or a moral imperative other than mayhem. But it's got a ticket a ride."

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

"Leitch, cinematographer Jonathan Sela and the stunt team do a serviceable job staging dynamic fights in the train’s tight compartments, with gun violence, knife and sword play, and weaponized use of anything else at hand, from laptops to water bottles to a plushy mascot. But for a movie with so much volatile physicality and bruising punishment, there’s an inertia about the whole thing, a soullessness that makes every contrived smirk grate. We don’t care about who gets pounded to a pulp or shot to pieces because there are no characters to root for — good guys or bad."

Brad Pitt in Bullet Train pic

Bullet Train currently sits with a score of 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, not bad for a film with such mixed reviews. However it is far from fresh and it does not seem likely to change in the coming weeks. Leitch's previous films have received a wide range of scores on the site, but his John Wick series consistently performs well at the box office and among critics. It seems like Leitch was hoping to capture some of that buzz in his latest action film. Many critics address this, citing that while Leitch misses the mark in Bullet Train, it is clearly within his wheelhouse as a director.

The audience score for Bullet Train have not been posted yet, these reviews are typically higher rating and more forgiving than critic's reviews. Despite the fact that the film is unattached to a notable brand or franchise, it will likely draw large audiences. The star-studded, action packed comedy should do well at the box office for the month of August, with little in the way of competition from other films. While somewhat shallow and cartoonish, Bullet Train is a thrill ride of non-stop action and ridiculous one-liners that will be sure to excite audiences this summer.

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